It Doesn't Matter if We Fail As Long as We're Together, We're Safe
by Rowan Hiding in the Nightshade
Summary: Kid Flash and Robin died in the mother-ship. But that doesn't mean that Wally and Dick did too. Somehow, they survive blowing up. Now they have to remember how to be kids on a team in a world they thought has been gone for 3 decades. Birdflash Failsafe AU
1. The Simulation

Robin and Kid Flash knew it. They were going to die. The bombs would hopefully take the mother-ship, but they were definitely going to die. They looked at each other one last time. They took off their masks and looked into the other's eyes.

3.

Robin knew this day would come sooner than most. He just didn't know this would be how.

2.

Wally could only think how sad it was the world was losing Robin.

1.

They smiled at each other.

0.

Everything blew up. It was like fireworks, but deadlier. It lit up the sky, but a cloud of smoke grew as well. And that should have been it. Really, it should have. They should have died and moved on, their physical bodies just ashes. If that. Or they should have woken up, realizing it was a simulation. Depends on how you view it and what reality you knew.

* * *

They faded in and out of consciousness. They were just lying there. They were holding hands. They were on gurneys with people shouting over them. They were in surgery. They were on a hospital bed. But whatever it was, they were together.

* * *

Their secret identities weren't so secret anymore. They didn't have their masks on, and Dick's face was easily recognizable, despite being battered and beaten. And Wally wasn't going to let his best bud's identity get announced to the world without his as well. So now the world knew. The invasion was over. Their identities were outed. Now they just had to heal. After all, blowing up gives quite the injuries.

* * *

It took a year for Kid Flash to recover fully. It took two more for Robin.

People were dead. Lots of people. And they blamed themselves. They trained past their body's capabilities, which caused relapses and setbacks.

* * *

Robin realized his feelings first. Like most things. Somewhere between the nightmares and the helping each other heal, he fell in love. He always knew this would be a possibility. While he loved girls, he'd caught himself ogling a few guys in his short lifetime as well.

Kid Flash didn't realize for a year after they were healed and back in action again. He tried to deny it, say that it wasn't _romantic_ but instead a familial thing. They'd grown so close they were like brothers. But when Dick hit the streets again, he couldn't deny it any longer.

He was in love with his best friend. And his best friend loved him back.

* * *

A new era of heroes popped up. Ones without a hidden identity. Take that G. Gordon Godfrey. Or, his ghost, since he was lost in the invasion.

Barbara Gordon was one of the first to pop up. Tula and Garth joined as well. Tim Kord, or Blue Beetle, became a superhero. He still honored the tradition of making up different names for their hero persona. People of all varieties wanted to help protect the world in case of another invasion. Even Cadmus' genomorphs helped and began to live outside of the building in DC.

* * *

As the years passed, Dick and Wally began a relationship. They fell deeper into love than they'd been before. They got married. Any and all people became legal and accepted everywhere after the Invasion. The world realized they needed to unite as humans. They adopted kids who had nobody else, whether that was from the Invasion or something else.

They never settled down though. They always continued to fight the good fight. They taught their kids when they were asked to let them help defend the world. This was all hands on deck. They couldn't afford to quit the game. But Lord knows they deserved it.

* * *

The old villains were gone. They were either killed or lost in the Invasion. But new villains, just like heroes, popped up. The fight was never over. New people joined both sides, and a new sense of normalcy formed.

* * *

A particularly nasty Gotham villain had got them. Dick had become the bait to catch Wally. They had been dunked in chemicals. It ate away at their bodies too fast for them to escape.

Dick's last thoughts were," I hope the kids will be alright with out us."

Wally's last thoughts were." And the last heroes from pre-Invasion days fall. May the world continue without us, and may we join our old comrades in whatever afterlife awaits."

* * *

Then they woke up, gasping for air.


	2. We've Woken and Everything's Changed

**AN: Hey peoples. I'm back with another chapter already. Thank you to those that have already followed, favorited, and/or reviewed. Hope you enjoy!**

Captain Marvel grabbed hold of Wally as he tried to stand up. Robin, sweating bullets, looked around for his husband. That was crazy. How were they all here right now?

Megan screamed," You're all alive!" She looked around with a smile on her face.

Batman asked," What happened in there?"

Martian Manhunter, clutching his head, answered," The exercise, it went all wrong."

Wally and Robin asked simultaneously," What exercise?" They looked at each other, and Wally rushed over.

Batman looked over at them with a raised eyebrow. He explained," Try to remember. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise. No matter what the team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

Martian Manhunter continued," That is why you hardly grieved even when wolf was disintegrated before your eyes. But all that changed when Artemis died," Everyone looked at the blonde girl," Though consciously Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise and her subconscious took control, making all of you forget, too."

Everyone turned to look at her. She looked around as she stuttered," I-I, I'm so sorry." Robin, whose hand found it's way into Wally's, looked at himself and his husband. He realized they were, in fact, back to the 15 and 13 year-old versions they were so very long ago.

Conner snapped," This isn't her fault. Why didn't you stop the exercise?"

Martian Manhunter's eyes narrowed. He responded," We tried. But M'Gann had a death grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should have awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed she slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to rest control from Miss Martian's subconscious from within.

" But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was too much noise to think clearly, to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad and Superboy helped. But only when the mother-ship exploded and Robin and Kid Flash were silenced did my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose– to shock M'Gann out of the exercise before your comas became permanent.

" My apologies. I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous, so damaging."

Megan, devastated at the destruction she wrought, cried into the palms of her hands. Captain Marvel moved to comfort her.

Wally hugged Robin, letting him sit in his lap. They shared a look that said," It wasn't real. All that time, fake. Just, gone." Robin hid his face in Wally's chest, and Wally hid his face in Robin's hair.

Martian Manhunter turned around and tripped. Batman and Red Tornado caught him. Batman asked," As bad as all that?"

Martian Manhunter replied," Perhaps worse."

Red Tornado stated," Yet this is not what troubles you."

Martian Manhunter, with Batman's help, stood back up. He warned," Make no mistake. My niece is untrained and cannot be held responsible for this – for _our_ debacle."

Batman answers," No one blames her. But clearly, _we_ underestimated her abilities."

Martian Manhunter looks back at the group of teens, the others looking with him. He informed," You understate it. In terms of raw power, she has the strongest telepathic mind I have encountered. Stronger, by far, than mine."

Superboy looked like he wanted to comfort Megan, but was unsure of how. Aqualad was still on his table thing, as was Artemis. Robin and Wally were still wrapped in each other. Batman wondered what happened between those two. While they were always comfortable with touching each other, this was normally only seen on the anniversary of the Flying Graysons.

Robin said," They're gone. Worse, they didn't even exist. All those years together, little more than a daydream."

Wally comforted," I know, babe. I know. But that doesn't mean we aren't still together. Unless you don't want to be. And we have all our old friends back."

Robin clutched Wally's shirt. He sort of sobbed," Don't leave me. I need you with me. Together. Dick and Wally. Wally and Dick. Dally. Wick. Remember?"


	3. Contingency 59

**AN: Thank you guys for all the love. I can honestly say I didn't think anyone would care about this story. Literally my only thought was," I need this. If nobody else will write it, guess I have to." You guys are making me all happy. I had a few different ideas about how to do this chapter, so I hope it turned out well.**

Batman went up to his son and asked," Robin, are you ready to go home?"

Dick didn't respond for a while. It had been so long since he'd answered to that name. And then he remembered it wasn't and almost burst into tears on the spot. Wally, bless this child, whispered sweet nothings and reassurances in the ears of his lover.

After he calmed down enough to trust his voice he answered," Only if Wally comes with me."

Batman responded quietly," I think Wally should get back to his own family, chum."

Dick clutched to Wally's shirt again and whispered," I _am_ his family. Or, I was."

Wally could almost _feel_ the desperation that Dick had to be with him. He whispered reassurances that he was still family. He said," I think we need to have a private conversation, Batman. A lot happened in there. Either way, I don't think he's letting go of my shirt anytime soon."

Dick suddenly felt very aware of the position he was in, both physically and mentally. Just because they thought they spent thirty years in a world without any of the heroes around them, doesn't mean it was true. Or, it was technically true, but it really wasn't. Batman and the rest, they expected the speedster and the bird to act a certain way. A way they hadn't acted in a very long time.

Batman, recognizing the desperation of his son as well, nodded his head slightly in a show of acceptance. He led them to the zeta tubes and they went to the Batcave.

Batman asked," So what did you need to tell me about the Simulation?"

Dick answered," The explosion didn't kill us like Martian Manhunter thought it did. We were severely injured, but we healed and continued living."

Batman was shocked. The psyche is something that J'onn was rarely wrong about, due to him being a telepath. He asked," How long?"

Wally talked it out," Well, I healed after a year. Dick healed two more after that. I realized my feelings and asked him out two years after he healed. We dated for four years before Dick proposed. The wedding took place a year after the proposal. We celebrated our 20th anniversary last month. So, adding it all up, 30 years."

Batman thought," _The touching makes sense now. It they were together for 25 years, and Alfred and I were gone, Dick would become very touchy with Wally._ "

Dick said," I think this is a contingency 59 type of situation."

Wally asked," What's contingency 59?"

Dick answered," Batman made a bunch of contingencies for if I lived out an entire life in a mental reality. Different lives are different numbers, but this was the most similar."

Batman cleared his throat before asking," So, you're together then? Will you be purchasing rings again?"

Dick and Wally looked at each other, searching for the other's answer. Then they looked back at Batman and simultaneously nodded. Dick verbally answered," We can go shopping in the morning. Tonight, we should finish this up and then sleep. We can tell Wally's family tomorrow."

Batman stated," That's a good idea. I would like to make one thing clear. You are allowed to share a bed, but don't have sex. I don't know how long you waited in simulation, but Dick is thirteen again. His body is no longer properly developed for that activity."

Wally nodded, blushing. Dick had flashbacks of their time in the simulation. Wally telling him that he'd wait an eternity to be with him. Dick blurting out," Let's do it," one day. The nights spent just cuddling. He blinked and tried to shake the images from his mind. He didn't need to be remembering right now.

Wally asked," You alright, sweetheart?"

Dick grabbed his head and said," Yeah. Just, memories. Lots of memories in flashes."

Batman asked," Would you like to sleep? We could continue this in the morning."

Dick shook his head. He wanted to at least get Batman out of the way before going to bed. He said," You can begin preparations for this while we're sleeping. But we should still go over a few things."

Batman asked," What did you want to talk about?"

Dick stated," After the Invasion, new heroes popped up. We stopped using code names. It might be a while before I respond immediately to Robin again. I finished school in there as well. We had kids. A lot of them. We adopted a good amount of kids to fill the manor and give them a good home."

Batman nodded," Thank you, Dick. I'll begin preparations. You should let Wally's parents know he's spending the night and turn in."

So they did. Wally shot a text to his mom, who responded with an okay. Then they collapsed onto Dick's bed and fell asleep in each other's arms.


End file.
